Sudan to abandon Baghdad embassy

Sudan said its diplomatic staff would leave Baghdad

The Sudanese government has announced it is shutting its embassy in Baghdad, in an apparent bid to win the release of five kidnapped embassy staff.

It follows a web statement attributed to al-Qaeda in Iraq, in which the group said it had the hostages and demanded Sudan cut diplomatic ties with Baghdad.

A Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman said the embassy would close on Friday.

Meanwhile, gunmen have opened fire on people reportedly drinking alcohol in Baghdad, leaving several dead and hurt.

Alcohol is not illegal in Iraq. But it is prohibited by Islamic custom which has been more rigorously enforced since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Reports of the shooting on the banks of the Tigris River remain confused, with Associated Press news agency citing nine dead and 16 injured and Reuters reporting one dead and five wounded.

Two explosions in central Baghdad earlier left at least five dead and 23 injured.

Isolation campaign

The web statement from al-Qaeda in Iraq, posted on Thursday, set a 48-hour deadline for Sudan to announce it was severing ties with the Iraqi government and closing its embassy.

The al-Jazeera satellite channel later broadcast footage it said it had been sent by the kidnappers, showing five men identifying themselves as embassy staff.

Sudan confirmed a week ago that six of its nationals, including five embassy employees and a "friend", had been kidnapped after attending prayers at a Baghdad mosque.

Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman Jamal Ibrahim said on Friday: "Sudan has decided to close its diplomatic mission in Iraq and to withdraw its diplomatic staff."

Al-Qaeda in Iraq - which is headed by the Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - has killed a number of Arab diplomats in recent months as part of its campaign to isolate the Baghdad government from its neighbours.